I was exhausted

Well ten days now with no water. I am beginning to lose faith that I will ever see running water again…

Today I was awoken at 5am by my phone. It was Ian calling from DC. I was really pleased to talk to him. He updated me on what was going on with him and DC. When I informed him that I still had no running water he informed me that the house had just passed a clean water bill that helps third world countries develop clean drinking water systems. Haha. He joked that he would tell Earl that he has a friend in Ghana without water. So maybe I will get some congressional on my running water problem. It was good to talk to Ian especially since I hadn't been able to for over a month.

Today was the worst day, and really the only bad day I have had in Ghana so far. I think that the main reason for this was my lack of sleep. Because I was tired I let things get to me that I shouldn't have.

We went to cape coast for the funeral of a woman who was the grandmother of a boy that Charles had taken care of for a while. I was just not in the mood to go to a big funeral for someone that I had no connection at all to. I was tired and traditionally at funerals in Ghana they blast gospel music which was giving me a headache. We went to the boy's mothers house and gathered with other friends of the family. A woman named Cecilia attached herself to me. She was probably about 65 or so. While we were eating lunch, before I had a chance to say anything or stop her she grabbed my piece of chicken and stripped the meat off the bone for me with her bare hands. It was a little humorous. She asked if I or white men chewed on the bones of our meat. I told her not really. She said that black people (Ghanaians) "we are like the dogs, we chew on the bones". I couldn't help but break out in laughter. While a comment like this in the US would be taking as an extremely racist remark, here it wasn't meant to have any racial connotation.

After spending what felt like forever there we finally left. I am sure that if I would have had more sleep I wouldn't have felt like this and I felt a little bad for being in a poor mood. We were supposed to stop at the ATM in cape coast but we headed out of town. I think Charles must have forgot and I didn't want to turn around and go back so I didn't mention anything. On the ride back we got some bread to eat in the car. It was very interesting. It tasted almost like a roasted marshmellow.

When we got back to Amonfru I asked Charles to take me back to the hotel because I was exhausted. So I came back to my room, watched some national geographic type of show about desert animals on tv for about 45 minutes and then at 6:30 I turned off the light and went to bed.

Side note: the other day when I went to the internet café I saw a story on an Oregon blog that showed the current war chests of those who are going to run for governor in 06. Interestingly enough Saxton is in the lead with 472K followed by Ted with 413k and in third place, Kevin Mannix with 275k. wow. Very interesting. I like Saxton and if he wins the primary against Mannix then Kulongoski should be very worried!

teachers make a little more than $1.50 a day

Nine days of no running water and still counting. The hotel staff told me that it should be fixed by tonight or tomorrow morning, I am not holding my breath.

Today I again spent most of the day in class 4. They were very well behaved today. It was nice to end the week on a good note. The unfortunate event of the day was when I had to use my stick. I gave the class a quiz with more than enough time to finish. I told them that I wanted everyone to finish their work. I told them that for every question that was not completed they would get one slap. I didn’t care if they got the question wrong, as long as they tried, but if they simply didn’t even try they would get punished. This reduced the number of uncompleted quizzes dramatically but there were still some that had left even 7questions empty out of 13. I had one of the students call out their names and how many questions they did not attempt to answer. Then they were to hold out their hands, palms up, and they received their punishments. I really don’t like to use the cane but if I don’t show the children that I am serious they will not have respect for me. I try to use other means of punishment that does not include the cane. I have a rule that after I write out the quiz on the board that every time they get noisy I will add another question. This usually works pretty well.

Every day the school gets new students. Mary Star of the Sea is a private school and has school fees. Not everyone in the community can afford these kind of fees yet our school continues to overflow. The community desperately needs another school. This is why completing the school project is so important. Class 4, numbering 60 was split today into two classes, taking up the second to last open class room. Class 4 B will be my “homeroom” it is up on the second story which I am happy about because on the first floor the wind carries the dust through the class rooms and it sometimes burns my eyes.

Today we ended school a bit early because we had a football match against another area school. We gathered in the middle of the school grounds and then marched to football field (right next to the school project site) as we marched some of the boys plaid the drums. It was a lot of fun. We unfortunately lost the match 1 to 3, but we were playing a really good school so I guess it wasn’t too bad.

Today before dinner, Charles and I went to have an official meeting with the Interim chief. Because the chief has died this man, I think his brother, has taken over the administrative duties until the next chief is selected. The greeting was very formal even though there were roaming chickens milling around and sometimes walking through the meeting. The interim chief explained some of the history of the area and that he is in charge of 47 villages and a total of nearly 50 square miles of land. Charles informed me that this meeting was not the place that I should express my concerns about the school project. He did not tell me this straight out but as he introduced us he hinted at it by saying that we were not here to deliver any bad news or concerns. I was impressed with what the interim chief said. He told me that many people here expect things to be given to them by outsiders. For example some may think that they will not have to do anything for the school project because they think that I must be rich and can simply pay for it to be completed. He said that you can sit around and have things handed to you. Yes they need help but they also need to help themselves. I explained that I am in no way a rich man and that the money that has come so far (totaling $9,000.00) was not my own, while I did make personal donations this money was in the form of donations. He and I are thinking on the same level, I think. He told us that we should find out what it would cost to complete the school and then try to determine how much I think I may be able to raise. After than then the rest of what is left unpaid for he will take personal responsibility for and will organize the community elders to get the building up as soon as possible. I would really like to have the building and fundraising finished before I leave in December. I am not sure exactly how we can get that done but I think that with the compassion of those at home it is possible. I will begin brainstorming immediately.

The school should have been completed months ago. There are two main factors contributing to this unfortunate reality.

1. Unfortunately specific government policies have greatly increased the price of the supplies we need. For example when we started the project a bag of cement cost around ¢35,000 and now it is up to ¢55,000. this is a dramatic change in price and has slowed our progress.
2. Many community members had pledged to help through either monetary or in-kind donations. A good number of the people were politicians and after the last election they were moved out of office and therefore cannot help. Others were business owners like brick factories or roofing companies and they have simply gone out of business because they can no longer afford the increased prices of supplies.

When I returned to my hotel room I discovered that I got a new TV. The replaced the one that I had with another one from a different room. This one is much better at showing a clear picture and I now get 5 channels instead of 3.

Another pleasant surprise was receiving not one call from home but two. The first was Caitlin, then after about a half hour I got a call from my mom and piper. It was really good to talk to them and hear about what was happening back in Oregon. I was begging to feel a bit homesick and these calls were just what I needed.

I have to wake up early tomorrow, around 5:30 because I will be going to a funeral in Cape Coast with Charles and his wife Rebecca.

I forgot to mention this a couple of days ago. I found out that teachers here make less than $50 a month. Moses told me this a few days ago and it had slipped my mind until now. They make just a little more than $1.50 a day. This is simply amazing to me. Amazing in a “how can that be possible” way. But after I let it sink in a bit longer it is less shocking. It seems like the issue of teacher’s pay is a global problem.

on “Ghana Time”

Day eight of no running water. It takes a long time for anything to get done here, whether it is getting breakfast or fixing the water. This is not specific to the hotel. This is something that is true throughout the country. Everything is on “Ghana Time”. Unlike the united states where we try to have everything working as efficient as possible, Ghanaian culture is extremely laid back. For example: I am not sure if there are any other guests staying at my hotel at the moment because I haven’t seen anyone else coming or going. Assuming that I am the only guest here, the ratio of hotel employees to its guests is 5 to 1. There is no reason for the hotel to employ all of these people. Most of the time they all simply sit on the couches in the lounge and watch TV. Even though they have 5 employees, it still takes 20 min to get my breakfast ☺. (toast, jam, butter, juice, hot water for coffee)

Today I was in class 4 for the vast majority of the day. I taught Environmental studies. We have been going over what makes a balanced meal and what foods belong to the specific food groups. I ask the kids what they eat for dinner for examples and then break up the food into categories like preserved and not preserved. The kids think it is hilarious what I eat for dinner. Because I eat dinner at Charles’ house every night I eat traditional Ghanaian food. They all expect that I will say that I had French fries or some other American food. When I say I had Kenke and Okra soup they all begin to giggle.

Today Mr. Abbey got me a Twi (one of the Ghanaian dialects) language book “Twi expressions at your finger tips”. He is going to go through it with me as well as read it over to a recorder so that I can go over it at home and know the correct pronunciations. Many of the sounds are very foreign to my mouth so this will be an interesting process.

After school Moses and I went into Accra to visit the ATM and a fast internet café. It took so long! It was an hour and a half trotro ride to get there. After we finished, it was around 6ish so it was rush hour. It took over 2 hours to get home and we even took a taxi, which is faster than a trotro and cost more as well. I paid ¢40,000 for the two hour ride (about $5) while a trotro would cost somewhere around ¢3,500 (about $0.40) even though it took forever to get there an back I was very happy to be able to upload a couple of pictures. From now on I will be shrinking my pictures down to about half of their original size before I upload them so that I can upload more each time I go. So if anyone wants to download one of the pictures they should be informed that it is a smaller version. If you would like the original size email me with the picture number ex: DSC00982 and I will email it to you, if you are fine with the smaller size then don’t bother. Dorcas, one of the teachers at school told me about another internet café that is much closer than the one in Accra and it is supposed to be fast as well so I think that I will try that one next.

Tonight when I was dinning at Charles’ house he informed me that a man approached him today about the school project. He wanted to help, with strings attached. He wanted Charles to write up a report on everything that had happened and how much money he got from where. (Charles has already done something of this sort) He also wanted to help not only out of charity but also out of political aspirations. He wanted to take credit for building a school so that he could say that the current government/local officials had a strong influence on the building of the school. He was going to try to get some cement donated. Charles told him that he didn’t want the school to have anything to do with politics. He also didn’t want the government to take credit for its completion. Personally, I would still like to meet with him. I don’t care about anything except the completion of the project so that the community can have a badly needed primary school. Plus I am familiar with politics so maybe I could work out a deal with the guy that would be very beneficial for both parties, but we will see.

I have failed to mention the sewer system here. There are ditches along side the roads that flow into the river and then into the ocean. They are wide open so they smell, some more than others.

blowing my nose constantly

It has been a week since I had running water. I don’t know what to do with myself when it returns.

I officially have a cold. The past day or so I was battling the very beginnings of a cold but thought it would go away. Today I have been blowing my nose constantly! My ears are a bit plugged and I am sneezing like a hurricane. I have some meds from back home but Charles wanted to go to the pharmacy to get me some more. I got some kind of triple action cold medicine, Im sure it is probably pretty strong I also got some amoxicilline over the counter. I got ten of them in their original factory sealing but held in a half envelope.

I am starting to get annoyed with everyone thinking that I have all sorts of money and that I will give out what little I have. They think that just because I am white and from abroad that I must be rich. I try to tell people that I am actually in debt with school loans and that they are actually richer than I am but people still subscribe to the stereotype. They think I am just made of money.

Today I attempted at recording the children as they were singing. Every Wednesday the morning periods are used as worship time and the children sing. When I listened to what I had recorded later this evening it was way to loud so I will try again sometime from a larger distance. I really enjoy listening to them sing.

Today I taught environmental studies to classes 4 and 6. I went over basic definitions of relationships, the importance of relationships and how to initiate/maintain relationships. I also went over what makes a hero/heroin extraordinary and what characteristics they hold etc. overall I think today was a good day at school. There is a little boy in class 4 that sits near my desk and he is so little and so funny. He is just a little character. His name is Dominic.

I just have to say how lucky and fortunate I am that Jody lent me this laptop. It has made things much easier for me in terms of technology. I an unload my pictures from my camera and transfer/listen to music as well as write and communicate my daily journal entries.

I am feeling a bit home sick. I am still in good shape it is just that I miss all of my friends and family. I like to know what people are up to back at home so if anyone has a chance to write an email I would enjoy it. I have been thinking about trying to buy a house when I get back. I would like it to be in the Hillsboro area. My mom suggested that I might look in north plains for something and I think that is a good idea.

I have the address for anyone who would like to send something my way. It should be addressed is:

Mr. Charles K. Abakah
Attn: Seth Prickett
P.O. Box OS 842-Osu
Accra, Ghana, West Africa
Phone: 0244708878

I guess both fedex and ups deliver here and they even have a three day shipping option. Sometimes when things are shipped over here they also like to know where the home location is of the package recipient. I have included this as follows:

Home Location: Nglashie Amafrom near Kasoa. Opposite Chief’s palace. Rear of Koforidia’s house.

Charles has also made up an itinerary for when my dad comes. He did it for two weeks before he knew the exact dates that we would be able to travel. Now that I have these dates I will give them to him and he will make the necessary corrections and adjustments. I hope that my dad is able to look it over and maybe even look some of the stuff up online to decide if there is anything he isn’t really interested in doing or if there is something he would like to do but isn’t included. This is the schedule as it stands now without date corrections. It is very jam packed with lots of amazing sites.
Day 1
Arrive at ACC
Transfer to hotel
Dinner at hotel

Day 2
After breakfast
City sour
Visit national museum
Visit Kwame Nkrumah park
Visit independence square
Lunch
Visit art bazzar
Dinner at Charles’ residence

Day 3
Depart Accra to aburi gardens.
Lunch at garden resturante
Return to hotel
Dinner at hotel

Day 4
Depart Accra to Cape Coast
Stop at Nglashie Amafrom to see school project site
Lunch at Cape Coast
Check into hotel
Dinner at hotel

Day 5
Visit Kakum rain forest/ Canopy Walk
Visit Cape Coast Castle.
Lunch
Visit Elimina Castle
Dinner at Branu Beach

Day 6
Depart Cape Coast to Kumasi
Lunch
Visit Komto Anorty sword
Check in at hotel
Dinner at hotel

Day 7
Depart Kumasi to Mole national park
Lunch on board
Check in a mole guest house
Dinner at hotel

Day 8
Morning part tour (safari)
Breakfast
Relax at the pool
Lunch
Evening viewing (more safari)
Dinner at hotel

Day 9
Depart mole to boabring monkey sanctuary
Lunch on board
Check in to hotel in Kumasi

Day 10
Visit wood carving village
Visit Adinkra village
Visit Kente village
Lunch at cultural center
Visit the palace of the Ashanti Chief
Dinner at hotel

Day 11
Depart Kumasi to Accra
Lunch at Assiakwa res
Check in at hotel
Dinner at hotel

Day 12
Free morning
Lunch at country kitchen
Visit design caskets
Return to hotel

Day 13
A visit to Mary Star of the Sea
Lunch
Farewell dinner at Charles’ house

Day 14
Last minute shopping
Transfer to hotel
Depart to Amsterdam

Internet frustration

Day six, no running water. I was pleasantly awoken by my phone at 6am. It was a call from home. It was so good to talk to my parents and Caitlin. Communication is difficult here in Ghana so this was a real treat for me. I hope to get more calls as time goes on. Maybe even work out a call schedule.
We worked out a price for breakfast. There was confusion on whether I had to pay for breakfast or not and it turns out that I do. Charles came to the hotel while I was at school and negotiated a price. They originally wanted to charge me ¢40,000 but Charles worked them down to ¢20,000. This is a price that allows them to still make a little profit while I get a good deal..
I did not spend much time at school today. It rained a bit today. For maybe 30 seconds or so. It was nice. I went to the ATM today with Moses to take out money for the school project. I took out another ¢4million. This went to pay for all the bricks and cement and workers. The workers we have hired are prisoners excluding the professional masons. After returning from the ATM in the early afternoon I went to the project site. There I helped to supervise/oversee the work being done. I even grabbed some tools and laid bricks myself. I think the workers were surprised to see me join in on the laboring. I told them that I didn’t come 20,000 kilometers to sit and watch other people work on the school. Plus I enjoyed the physical labor.
I was finally able to go to the internet café again today. I was disappointed that we would not be visiting the high speed internet café so I would not be able to upload my pictures for people back home to see. The connection today was so incredibly slow. It took nearly 30 min just to open up my email account. I was so frustrated. All I wanted to do was be able to communicate with friends and family back home.

took a taxi to school

Day five, no water. Today was the first day I took a taxi to school. The head master at the school, madam, has arranged a taxi to pick me up from the hotel at 8:20am to the school. He will then also pick me up at Charles’ house in the evening and take me back to the hotel. This will continue until Charles gets his car fixed. This means no more trotro to work.
School was ok today. Mondays seem to be a bit boring. I have decided that I am going to make a few kids in class four that sit in the back sit in the front because they are not paying attention and not learning. Hopefully this will shut them up and improve their exercise scores.
I sat in on the sexual education lesson for class six. It was very conservative. The book stated that girls should dress decently so that they do not become victims of rape. Being a member of our colleges sexual assault task force (even though at times I didn’t agree with everything we were taught) I thought it was terrible for schools to be reinforcing the idea that if a woman dresses in a certain way than she brings rape upon herself. Because this was a lesson that pertained to Ghanaian cultural values, I sat quietly on the side of the classroom. But I was at times disgusted at the archaic mind set. Sometimes the information was simply wrong or misleading. I was however happy that at the end of the lesson condoms were stressed at the ONLY way to prevent STDs and pregnancy.
I was supposed to go to the internet café today but was unable to. I was disappointed because I have not been able to have any contact with my family and friends back home for a week. I hope that tomorrow will be a different story.
Tomorrow we will start on some construction at the school project site with some money that I was given before I left for Africa (not the money I raised at church). I am, and so are the community members, grateful for this benevolent contribution. I am very excited to start work and help supervise. We will be getting prisoners to do the work. (much cheaper labor than hiring laborers from town)
Tonight I had a breakthrough with a little girl named Aunty Abba. She is probably about one and a half years old and lives next to Charles with her three year old sister and parents. When I first arrived in Ghana, she was the first to come and greet me. But ever since then she has been very afraid of me and would not come near me and when she saw me she would cry and run to her mother. Last night she began to warm up a bit when she waved bye-bye when I left. Today I was able to get her to come up to me and she even talked to me a bit. I gave her some candy and I think that she will no longer be afraid of the scary Obruni.

food and ¢500,000 to the orphanage

Day four, no water. This morning the workers here told me that I needed to pay for breakfast when I requested my meal. I had been told breakfast was included in the price I am paying per night. Not a big deal, but Charles is going to find out the story tomorrow. If they are going to charge me I will go and eat breakfast at the school instead.
I was planning on sleeping in this morning and had told Charles of my intentions because I was not going to be attending church with them. At 8am Charles called twice to make sure my phone was working. I was fully awake by the second call and so I was not able to rest like I had wanted.
I took the trotro to the kotes junction around 11am where I had planned on walking over to Mary Star of the Sea and taking some pictures while there were no students around but it turns out that the school is used for church services on Sunday so I was unable to continue as planned. I walked by the school project and took some pictures of the progress. I then made my way to Charles’ house. After lunch we borrowed a car from the soon to be chief Humphrey and headed to the orphanage, (good Shepard orphanage). When we arrived we were greeted by the founder of the orphanage, a bishop, who also has a son by the name of Seth. They laid out the FGUCC donation on a table in front of the children. The children sang songs to welcome us including, holy holy holy, jesus loves the little children and even a Ghanaian rendition of old McDonald. We formally donated the foods and ¢500,000 to the orphanage. They were all very grateful of the donation and Charles said that the rice and other foods should last them about 2 weeks. They asked god to bless the people of the FGUCC for their generosity and kindness.
On the way back we got some coconuts to eat and then simply relaxed in lawn chairs outside until dinner (fufu) was ready.